Harry Potter and the Gate of Shadows
by Jaken's Protector
Summary: In order to protect Harry from Voldemort, an Order member is to accompany him around Hogwarts during his sixth year. However, this member will need to be disguised...and why is there suddenly a replacement Potions Master?
1. Order Meeting

JP: Hiya! I'm Jaken's Protector and I'm here to bring you my first-ever Harry Potter fan fiction! It's titled Harry Potter and the Gate of Shadows. The gate has already been seen in the books, but not properly identified. I'm giving it my own name and interpretation of its use. If you can't find it, or are a bit lazy, reread chapter 35 of the Order of the Phoenix. Anyway...Harry Potter and all characters, locations, etc. are owned by J. K. Rowling, not me. I /I own Professor Durren Meyer, however. He's mine. So get over it.  
  
BChapter 1: An Order Meeting/B  
  
"Damn it, Albus, I know it's delicate, but something's got to be done to warn the boy! That bumbling fool Fudge has put a Phasing Barrier around the Department of Mysteries that I doubt even you could break, and to make matters worse, /I gone and disappeared. They're scrambling to find someone to fill his boots, yet you're the only one they've not approached!"  
  
Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was calmly sitting at the head of a large conference table in the staff lounge. Assembled as well were Minerva McGonagall, Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Mundungus Fletcher, Remus Lupin, and Severus Snape, who was irate, having finished his outburst. The headmaster raised a hand as though to placate the Potions Master and pronounced his reply slowly and clearly.  
  
"Now, Severus, I understand your concern as to the problem of the missing Minister. I assure you, I am perfectly happy and content at being headmaster of this school; true, I believe I could do far more good here than at the head of our government regardless. Now, indeed, it would be wise to attempt to contact Harry, but we must be subtle. Voldemort could very well sense a potential Order member if we were to send them in without proper warding. Nor would it be prudent to let Harry know we had a full- fledged Order member following him around.  
  
"The Department of Mysteries must wait. A Phasing Barrier is much too volatile to tamper with, and, while we may not be able to access the full resources of the area, neither can Voldemort." He cleared his throat a moment before continuing. "Now, the matter of instructors for the coming year. Remus, will you accept the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"  
  
Lupin nodded solemnly. "Of course, Albus." Dumbledore gave a grateful nod and turned his gaze to Snape. "Severus...you are the wizard I feel is most suited to staying with Harry, albeit in a more inconspicuous guise. It would also shield you from Voldemort. Do you object?" The Potions Master seemed frozen. His eyes narrowed dangerously for a moment, but finally he shook his head slowly. "Excellent," Dumbledore said, "In which case I already have a Potions Master ready for your temporary replacement. May I introduce Durren Meyer?"  
  
The old wizard raised a hand and snapped his fingers. An extra chair shimmered into being next to Lupin, and a second snap opened the door into the hallway, from where a man entered. He was tall, thin yet wiry, and nearing the same age as Severus himself. A pair of thin spectacles rested on his sharp nose, slightly magnifying his bright brown eyes, and his long dark-brown hair was swept back into a neat ponytail. Meyer gave a polite bow to those present before taking his seat next to Lupin.  
  
"Albus, are you sure that this is necessary? Why can't you just keep an eye on Harry during term, here at Hogwarts?" Tonks spoke up, brushing a strand of her shoulder-length, electric-blue hair back. "Wouldn't that be easier than sending /I to watch Harry?" She jabbed a thumb at Snape's direction, who looked both extremely angry with Tonks, and yet slightly inquisitive himself. Moody seemed to agree with this wholeheartedly, as both his eyes, even his seemingly never-still magical one, were focused on the headmaster.  
  
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "I thought I had explained this already. If Voldemort has a link into Harry's mind, then there is nothing to hide the fact that we are indeed watching Harry and trying to protect him. If we send Professor Snape in a disguise, Voldemort will neither become suspicious nor try to take over Harry's mind again." As Moody and Tonks opened their mouths to dispute this selection, he added, "Also, Severus is sufficiently skilled in Occlumency to protect himself and Harry as well from Voldemort burrowing too far into their thoughts."  
  
The headmaster stood. "Very well, if there are no further matters to discuss, I shall send an owl to Harry straightaway. This meeting is adjourned. Severus, please wait in my office; Minerva, please show Professor Meyer his quarters and office. Mundungus, Nymphadora, and Alastor, I need you three to go to London and gather the items I've requested." Various nods and affirmatives met his orders, and quite soon the staff room was empty, with no sign of the peculiar meeting.  
  
JP: Woo! Secret meeting! Wow! And...Harry's not in the first chapter at all! GASP! Anyway...read and review! (I'll keep writing whether you do or not...but I'd really rather you did!) 


	2. Correspondence

JP: Yeek! It's Chapter Two already! And Harry will be in it! Woohoo! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Anyway, Harry Potter and all related characters, locations, etc. are property of J. K. Rowling. I own Durren Meyer and Stephen Lister.

Chapter Two: Correspondence and Arrival

Harry Potter sat on –his- bed in –his- bedroom, flipping through one of –his- books on a fine Sunday morning. Apparently his Uncle Vernon was so terrified at the thought of Mad-Eye Moody coming to reap vengeance for any mistreatment of the young wizard in his charge that he'd let Harry do, watch, and have quite nearly everything he asked for. Of course, Harry didn't ask for much at all, but there was definitely something to be said for freedom.

He was currently engrossed in his Potions textbook - One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi - a definitely odd way to be spending his free time, though he'd be willing to do anything to keep Sirius' death from weighing too heavily on his mind. Molly Weasley had been a tremendous help in this area; her comforting words had helped him to realize that his godfather's death was not his fault by any means. Still, losing the closest thing he'd ever known to a parent was still enough for stabs of emotional pain now and then.

Ironically enough, Harry's magic-phobic uncle had only one condition for Harry's studies: stay in seclusion, keep it secret. This, of course, meant that Harry needed to shut and lock his door if practicing magic, keep the curtains and blinds closed, and not perform any flamboyantly loud or flashy spells. Spells – That was another thing. The flabbergasted Minister had recently revoked the Restriction of Underage Wizardry in light of the reappearance of the Dark Lord.

That said, the young wizard shut his Potions text and slid it under the bed, then reached around a bit and withdrew a rolled-up piece of parchment. He flattened it and spread it on the bed; Hermione's neat and immaculate handwriting outlined and described several spells – at least four of which were wandless. 'Great,' he thought. 'I'll just get right to work on these, 'Mione. Might be able to get one right in, oh, about three years or so.'

He withdrew his wand and set to work studying the first of these defensive spells. "Avarice, the exponential increase of the victim's own greed to the point of lunacy. Yeah, most Death Eaters are pretty greedy. And probably loony too. Oh well. Incantation; Ah-vah-ree-chay. Hmm, that sounds Italian." He pointed his wand at a sparrow sitting in a tree branch outside his window, aiming carefully.

"Avarice!" A small golden disk of light materialized at the end of his wand, then shot forward with a small flare, passing harmlessly through his window and hitting the sparrow with no noticeable effect. Harry watched the sparrow intently, but there seemed to be no change. Then, suddenly, it ducked its head, picking a stray twig and adding it to its nest. The bird then flew up to another sparrow's nest, ripped several twigs from it, and added them to its own.

"Wow. That's one greedy little bird." Harry congratulated himself on the successful cast of the Avarice spell. He moved on to the next – The Doppelganger Charm – but was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. He glanced up for a moment, waiting for Vernon to answer the door. Ding-dong. "Darn, that's right. They're out." He leaped from his bed and took the stairs as quickly (and safely) as he could, opening the door.

Into the face of Minerva McGonagall. "Good morning, Mr. Potter." "Professor! Um...I wasn't quite expecting you." He took a moment to glance at her – she was wearing Muggle clothing, and pulled it off quite nicely, as well. She was garbed in a simple white blouse and an emerald-green skirt. Her hair was in the characteristic bun and spectacles in place. This woman had obviously come from church.

"Yes, quite. The Headmaster and I have a bit of a favor of you, if you don't mind. May we come in, seeing as your lovely relatives are out for the moment?" Harry immediately stepped aside and beckoned them in. Then he did a double-take. "Er...'we', ma'am?" The woman frowned slightly, and moved aside to reveal the young man behind her. He had dark, golden-blonde hair cut nearly as short as Harry's own; slightly tanned skin, and piercingly grey eyes. He was dressed in a like manner to McGonagall, with a pressed white shirt, green necktie, neat black trousers and shoes. The new arrival seemed to size Harry up with an expression Harry found hard to read, then grinned slightly and held out his hand. "Stephen Lister. You'll be Harry Potter, right?"

"Um...yes, actually." He shook hands with Stephen, and then led the (most!) unexpected pair into the living-room where they all took seats. McGonagall nodded slightly to Stephen, then turned her attention to Harry and remarked, "Professor Dumbledore and I have a favor, as I said. Mr. Lister, here, was in Italy with his family, away with a friend, when his home was attacked by Death Eaters. His family escaped, we believe, but he now has nowhere to go.

"Giving him up as a ward of the Ministry would be the proper, but also the unwise thing to do, as the Minister has vanished. Mysteriously. Therefore, our theory is that Stephen ought to stay with a student of his own house. He is an exchange student, and is actually a nephew of one of the staff members at Hogwarts."

Harry opened his mouth, but Stephen cut him off. "Not to be presumptuous, I Mr. /I Potter, but you're going to ask, why don't I stay with my uncle? He's away for the first semester." Harry blinked. That tone sounded /very/ familiar to Harry, laden with some sarcasm, but he couldn't place it. Draco Malfoy, maybe. "Well, certainly, I guess, Professor. The Dursleys won't mind; they hate magic anyway. Um...there is the matter of living space...he could probably use one of my cousin's rooms."

McGonagall nodded and stood. "Thank you very much, Mr. Potter. I will see you and Mr. Lister in September, then." There was a slight popping noise, and she was gone in a blink. Harry gave what he hoped was a winning grin to Stephen. "Well, then. I guess you've got luggage somewhere?" The transfer student reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a few tiny trunks, set them on the floor, and targeted each with an enlarging charm. "Ah," said Harry, "That would do it, then."

As Harry led Stephen and his trunks upstairs, the Italian closed his eyes for patience and sent his thoughts skyward. 'Merlin, Albus. Only because it's you.'

JP: Well, there's the second chapter. After goodness only knows how long. But I'm not busy for a week yet! So hopefully a chapter a week will be coming! R&R, please, and tell your friends!


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